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‘Valkyrie’ Nazi Extras Suing United Artists Over Nazi Truck Accident

Photo: Getty Images


More exciting news for United Artists! In Valkyrie, the forthcoming madcap Nazi adventure from the studio, Tom Cruise plays an eye-patched colonel who botches an assassination plot on Hitler. Now UA is being sued over an apparent botched assassination plot on some of the movie’s extras, as eleven actors who played Nazis in the film have filed an $11 million lawsuit after falling from a truck during shooting last summer. The extras, who were hilariously rushed to the hospital in their Nazi uniforms, sustained injuries including broken ribs and pulled ligaments; one was kept under observation for four days for fear of internal injuries.

The accident happened when the side rail of a truck (like the one above, we guess) fell off as it turned a corner in central Berlin. The suit alleges that UA knew the truck was faulty and “there had even been an internal memo about the railings,” claims the Nazis’ lawyer. Der Spiegel notes that the extras will need to prove malice on the part of the filmmakers to override the waivers they signed, but knowing UA these days, we bet those waivers are probably about as binding as the screws holding the railings on the truck were. So, worst-case scenario for Valkyrie? It’ll just have to earn an extra $11 million at the box office, which should be no problem once those Oscars start rolling in.

Nazi Extras Sue Tom Cruise’s Film Studio for $11 Million [Der Spiegel via Deadline Hollywood Daily]
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‘Valkyrie’ Nazi Extras Suing United Artists Over Nazi Truck Accident